Children’s books have been my passion since . . . well, since childhood. I don’t remember being read to (my mom had her hands full with four of us age five and under). So I anticipated learning to read in kindergarten and was greatly, greatly disappointed. In those days they didn’t teach reading that early. (To add insult to injury, they made you take a nap, but that’s a different blog.)

Again I was greatly disappointed to find out first grade did not mean a person could
magically read on the first day, as I so embarrassingly found out the first afternoon when I brought a book home from school, set my parents down at the kitchen table, and expectantly opened the book, only to find the marks on the page still did not sing to me.

A few days later, I met Dick, Jane, Sally, Spot, and Puff as the whole first grade struggled through the page that read, “Look, look, look, look, look.” The dawn of understanding—a word with the same design is the exact same word each time! (But who talks like that?) And so began the quest to read every book in my school (not as hard as it may sound; but, again, another story) and as many from the public library as possible. I found that books can be a map for the heart, and I desperately wanted those maps.

During adolescence and early adulthood, I read in different areas—sociology, semantics,
alternative education, political commentary, and adult fiction. Then my job in a bookstore
reintroduced me to children’s books. I decided that children’s literature is one of the genres that has both the best and the worst of the printed word. And I love the heart of the best—the kernel of truth that comes via a character to either open one’s eyes or confirm what is already known but, for some reason, unacknowledged.

A map won’t protect you from all of life’s pitfalls. Even with great maps, my Spacial Awareness Deficit has gotten me lost. But these heart maps have helped me recognize emotional landmarks, re-find my direction, given me the hope of a route to a beautiful destination.

I’m writing to add to the cartography, and I hope you’ll journey with me.

Please comment and let me know which books you would like to see reviewed.